


Let This Promise in Me Start

by GinnyK



Series: The Pitfalls of the Man I Became [2]
Category: One Day at a Time (TV 2017)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Awkward Conversations, Family Feels, Heart-to-Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2019-12-07 04:45:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18230087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GinnyK/pseuds/GinnyK
Summary: A month of Saturdays with Schneider and Alex.  Penelope has asked Schneider to be honest with Alex, to answer his questions and to explain things the best he can.  To his credit, Schneider is really trying to do just that.Starts right after the previous story, What's Waited Till Tomorrow Start Tonight, ends.Title comes from the song From Now On, from the movie, The Greatest Showman





	1. Day 2

**Author's Note:**

> For the sake of full disclosure, I am not in AA. I do work in the mental health field and many of my patients are struggling with alcohol and drug abuse. Some are in support groups, far too many are not. Information about AA meetings (format, chips etc) come from my research and not personal experience.

By the time Penelope and Schneider made their way home from meeting #2, he was in need of a couple Advil, a can of ginger ale and the couch. She sent him to the couch and got him the pills and the drink. He started to thank her for her help but he stopped himself from voicing the words yet again. Instead he gave her a wink and a little smile. He took the pills and curled up a little, pulling the blanket over him.  
“You coming down for dinner?” she asked as she sat down in front of him on the coffee table.  
“I don’t know. Not sure I’m ready to eat Lydia’s spicy cooking or if I’m really ready to face the whole family while completely sober,” he muttered as he pulled off his glasses and handed them to Penelope. She set them on top of the stack of magazines on the coffee table.  
“I get it, that’s fine. But rest assured we are not going to let you hide out here for very long. You’re going to have to face us soon. And I’m sure Alex will want to come up later.”  
“That’s fine. I owe him a Mario Kart rematch, among other things, I’m sure,” he whispered.  
“Schneider, don’t try so hard. Alex adores you and I don’t think your relapse is going to change that. Just be yourself with him, be honest in answering what I assume will be his many, many questions,” Penelope said with a little grin as she reached out to brush his hair off his forehead.  
“Okay. I can do that,” he muttered, clearly only a few minutes from falling asleep.  
“Get some sleep. I’ll tell Alex you’ll text him later,” Penelope said as she tucked the blanket around him and leaned over to kiss his forehead, a gesture which was becoming a habit. One they both found comforting.  
“Thanks, Pen,” he muttered, already half asleep.  
*****  
“Mami, Schneider texted. Can I go up and see him?” Alex called down the hall.  
“Alex, the apartment isn’t that big, you don’t need to yell,” Penelope yelled right back.  
“Might want to take your own advice, mija,” Lydia yelled from her room. Her comment earned her a fully expected glare from her daughter.  
“Can I go?” Alex asked as he slid across the hardwood floor in his socks.  
“May I go,” Penelope said, restating his question using a little grammar. “Not sure how Sister Jean gave you an A in English.”  
“It was my charming personality and good looks,” Alex teased as he grabbed a cookie out of the cookie jar on the counter.  
“Let’s hope it’s more than that. And yes, you may go to visit Schneider.”  
“Wait, I have non-spicy chicken,” Lydia yelled from her room where she’d been, as usual, listening to the conversations of her family.  
“Don’t yell,” Penelope and Alex yelled right back.  
“You three are so weird,” Elena yelled from her room.  
“Time out, no more yelling,” Penelope announced in a decibel level more appropriate for inside the apartment. “Mami, pack up the chicken. Alex pack him some cookies.”  
Lydia and Alex packed up the items for Schneider while Penelope grabbed her school bag and started to set up at the kitchen table. She started a pot of coffee, knowing she would need the caffeine to study as she hadn’t caught up from the previous nights’ lack of proper sleep.  
“We’re going to 9:00 mass tomorrow morning so come home by 10:00,” Penelope said as Alex gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.  
“Okay. Thanks for not treating me like a child and for letting me see Schneider,” Alex said from the doorway.  
Penelope just nodded and gave him a big smile, hoping her tears would hold off until he closed the door behind him.  
They did.  
********  
“Schneider,” Alex called out as he knocked once and opened the door.  
“Kitchen,” Schneider called back.  
“Hey,” Alex said as he stepped into the kitchen with the food. “Here, non-spicy chicken just for you. And Mommy sent more cookies,” he announced as he put the food on the table.  
“How did Lydia manage to cook something without her spices?” Schneider teased as he opened up the plastic container. He hadn’t eaten much during the day but to his delight he also had managed to make it through the day without getting sick.  
“I told her I had faith that she could do it. Plus, you know, she loves you,” Alex teased as he grabbed a can of Coke out of the fridge and opened up the cookies. They sat at the kitchen table while Schneider managed to eat a little chicken.  
They chatted a little about nothing in particular. Alex was filled with questions he wasn’t sure he should be asking so he just rambled on about whatever came to mind, baseball, video games, Elena and Syd and the Mario Kart rematch they needed to have that night.  
“How was the meeting?” Alex finally asked as he fidgeted with the tab on his can of Coke.  
“Uh, it was fine, I guess,” Schneider answered a little taken aback that Alex asked about the meeting. But after a few seconds of thought he realized the question wasn’t all that out of the ordinary for the boy. He’d always been curious and kind. Alex looked at him, the boy was obviously full of questions and not quite sure whether or not to ask them. “I take it that you have some questions?”  
“Yeah,” Alex answered, his voice no louder than a whisper. He kept his eyes down, brushing cookie crumbs into a little pile on the table.  
“You want to go outside and talk. It’s nice out,” Schneider suggested. Alex just nodded and got to his feet. “Bring the cookies.”  
They settled down on the twin lounge chairs on the balcony, the container of cookies and cans of soda on the table between them.  
“Ask away,” Schneider said as he kicked off his shoes and pulled his knees up.  
“Okay. What happens at a meeting? I mean is it like on TV, do people just say their first name and share stuff?”  
“Sort of like that. The secretary opens the meeting by introducing themselves. We all say the Serenity Prayer together. New people are free to introduce themselves. Yes, we use first names, it’s what keeps it “anonymous”. If we have visitors, they have a chance to introduce themselves.”  
“Visitors?” Alex asked curiously.  
“Lots of people who are in AA go to meetings regularly. And that means finding a meeting when you’re on vacation, or visiting people. There’s a website and you can always find a meeting easily.” Alex nodded his understanding. “There is usually a speaker at the meeting, they get to pick the topic. People discuss the topic of the meeting after the speaker is done. If people have achieved a milestone they get a chip during the meeting. You usually say a few words when you get a chip, but you don’t have to. You don’t have talk at all if you don’t want to talk. But talking helps. After the meeting it’s crappy coffee and cheap cookies.”  
“When do you get a chip?” Alex asked as he sat up crossed legged on the lounger, facing Schneider.  
“Depends. All meetings are different. There are no specific rules about chips in AA. Most people are surprised to hear that. Individual groups decide when to give them. The first one in the meeting I go to is 30 days. Then 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and a year. After that, it’s a chip every year.”  
“So 28 days from now, you’ll get one,” Alex said simply.  
“That’s my plan,” Schneider replied with a grin.  
“Do you have them?” Alex asked.  
“Have what?”  
“All your chips?” he asked, suddenly feeling he might have asked something he shouldn’t have asked. “Sorry, probably none of my business,” he said, waving his hands a little.  
Schneider sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the lounge chair. He tapped Alex’s foot to get the boy to look at him. Alex looked up. Schneider put his elbows on his knees and took a deep breath. “I told you last night that you could ask me anything, that I was going to honest with you and your sister. I have no intention of going back on my promise.” Alex nodded slightly. “The answer to your question is….yes. I have them all. They represent hard work. The fact that there are more than a few different sets, represent setbacks, starting over. Do you want to see them?” Schneider asked, already knowing what Alex’s answer would be.  
“Yeah,” Alex whispered.  
“I’ll grab them. Why don’t you make a bag of popcorn and meet me in the living room?” Schneider suggested as he stood up.  
“Sounds good.”  
Alex went to the kitchen and grabbed the box of microwave popcorn out of the cabinet. He put a bag in the microwave and ate a few cookies while he waited for it to pop.  
Schneider went into his room. He sat down on the edge of the bed for a minute, removing his glasses and taking a few deep breaths. When he felt a bit more in control of his emotions he put his glasses back on and opened the drawer to his nightstand. He pulled out the small wooden box containing his chips, holding it to his chest for a minute.  
“Schneider, popcorn’s done,” he heard Alex call from the living room.  
“Coming,” Schneider called back. He took a deep breath and headed down the hall.  
Alex was sitting on one end of the couch, bowl of popcorn in his lap, phone in his hands. He was texting his mom, who had just texted him asking how things were going.  
“Mom, checking up on you?” Schneider asked as he sat down on the other end of the couch.  
“Of course she is,” Alex grinned as he tossed the phone on the coffee table. Schneider reached for the bowl of popcorn and set the wooden box in Alex’s lap.  
“You can open it,” Schneider said.  
Alex slid the lid of the box off. Inside he found 5 cloth bags, each with a little cardboard tag with dates. He picked one up and opened the drawstring, dumping the coins in his hand. Before he really looked at the coins he looked at the tag for the dates, 2011-2019. He put a pillow on his lap and spread the coins out, there were 12 of them. It took him a minute to put them in order. Schneider picked up two of them, the 30 day chip and the 8 year chip.  
“First and last,” he said quietly as he held them tightly in his hand for a minute. He brought his hand up to his mouth and took a shaky breath. Alex moved the pillow to the coffee table and reached for the box of tissues on the end table. He pulled a few out and held them out for Schneider who took them with a watery smile. He handed Alex the two coins.  
“Do you carry them around?” he asked as he turned the coins over in his hand. On one side were the words—To Thine Own Self Be True—along with a number. The reverse side of the coins had the Serenity Prayer.  
“Lots of people carry around their most recent coin. I usually keep it, uh kept it, in my pocket. That way I look at it throughout the day. Each time I pull out some change or something else out of my pocket, I see it,” Schneider explained. He wiped his eyes once more and put the tissue in the pocket of the gray hoodie he was wearing.  
“Cool,” Alex said as he fingered the coins again. He picked up the coins off the pillow and held all of them in his hands, shaking them up, staring at the colors, unsure of what else to say. Schneider held the bag open and Alex slid them back in without a word.  
“I have an idea,” Schneider said. “Let me know if you think it’s stupid, or whatever.”  
“Okay. But I doubt it’s going to be stupid,” Alex said with a smirk.  
“Thanks. How about each time I get a chip, I give you a matching one to hold onto?”  
“Oh man, that is not a stupid idea,” Alex said with a big grin. “That would be really cool,” he said, sounding every bit like an excited 14 year old boy that he was. There were times Alex seemed so mature that Schneider had to remind himself that he was still barely in his teens.  
“Then it’s a deal,” Schneider said as he held up his hand for a high five. “Okay enough mushy, serious stuff. Time for Mario Kart. You’re going down kid,” he teased.  
“I don’t think so, old man,” Alex shot back as he got up to grab the controllers.  
*********  
At 9:55 Alex slipped his shoes back on to head home. Schneider walked him to the door. “Think about what you want to do next Saturday,” Schneider said with a grin.  
“Really?” Alex asked with a matching grin.  
“Yeah, you and me. I need another chance to redeem myself in Mario Kart.”  
“Told you that you were going down old man,” Alex teased. “Good night,” he said quietly as he gave Schneider a quick hug before opening the door and stepping into the hallway.  
Schneider closed the door and slid the deadbolt in place. He cleaned up the mess they’d managed to make with the popcorn. At some point in the video game play popcorn was tossed at Alex in an effort to throw him off his game. It hadn’t worked.  
As Schneider tossed the empty soda cans in the recycling bin he heard his text alert chime. 

Alex told me your plan with the chips. I’m hiding in my room with tissues. Get some sleep, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

Schneider sent back a quick text telling her good night. He brushed his teeth and crawled into bed, hoping he would get more sleep than he’d gotten the night before. As he tried to do each and every night, he said the Serenity Prayer before closing his eyes.


	2. Day 9

Day 9

 

Schneider woke up to the sun streaming in the window.  As he’d done for the past week he took a few deep breaths and sat up slowly, trying to decide what kind of morning he was about to face. 

The beginning of the week had not been some of his finest moments.  Despite doing fairly well the previous Saturday, enjoying time with Alex; Sunday and Monday were spent in close proximity to the bathroom as his body continued its detox from alcohol. Penelope had checked on him a few times Sunday, bringing him soup and keeping him company.  They kids had gone out with Lydia and Dr. B to the movies, leaving Penelope free to hover about, alternately holding his head, whispering to him in Spanish and spending time with her books and notecards, studying for her NP exam.

On Monday she’d all but dragged him to see Dr B.  There had been some debate over a trip to the ER for some IV fluids but in the end he managed to convince both of them he’d be fine at home.  Dr Berkowitz prescribed Compazine to settle his stomach, a few days’ worth of Librium for the withdrawal symptoms and something non addictive he could use to help with anxiety after he finished detoxing.  The first two proved to be very helpful during the week.

The rest of the week was spent keeping busy with work, attending meetings and reading the Big Book.  He did a lot of soul searching and he once again started to work through the 12 steps. He’d spent a little time with Penelope and the kids but they had had a busy week.  Coupled with the fact that a good deal of their time together revolved around food and he was a bit hesitant to enjoy Lydia’s Cuban cooking, he didn’t see as much of them as he usually did.  Alex texted every day, giving updates on school, the family and more than a few texts about someone named Abby.

 

Schneider realized he was actually feeling pretty good as he reached for his glasses and padded to the bathroom.  He took his pills, ate a quick bowl of cereal and took a shower to get ready for a meeting. 

The ride to the Community Center was a fairly quick one, there wasn’t much traffic at 8:45 on Saturday morning.  He blasted the 80s station on the satellite radio, singing along with Madonna and Bon Jovi.

Since Tuesday, he’d felt comfortable enough to drive and went to his meetings alone.  He was once again becoming more comfortable with sharing.  Penelope hadn’t asked too much about his meetings.  He knew she was holding back with the questions and for that he was grateful.  Alex on the other hand had asked lots of questions but somehow questions from a curious 14 year old weren’t as probing as questions from someone a mere exam away from being a Nurse Practitioner.

*******

The meeting was nothing out of the ordinary.  There was a large crowd for early on a Saturday.  The joke was that it was easy to get up early on Saturday morning when you went to bed sober on Friday night.

Schneider started the car and finished the cookie in his hand as he opened up his text messages on his phone.  He had a missed text from Alex asking what the plans for the day were.  With a smile he answered.

_How about we ride our bikes to Echo Park Lake?  I dragged them out of storage yesterday afternoon and filled the tires._

 

He got an answer within 30 seconds, his plan was just fine with Alex.  He knew he could basically offer to do just about anything with his young friend and it would be met with enthusiasm.  Penelope had been right, he didn’t need to try so hard. Alex just wanted to spend time with him and be able to talk to him.  What they did together didn’t matter all that much.

Schneider stopped by his apartment to grab a few things.  He pulled his backpack out of his front closet and put in a couple bottles of water, his baseball glove and ball and his wallet.  He traded his jeans and flip flops for cargo shorts and sneakers.  He ate a granola bar and put some sunscreen on his face before throwing the backpack over one shoulder and heading to the Alvarez/Riera apartment.

*****

Penelope answered the door with a smile. She was still dressed in her pajamas, curls out of control, cup of coffee in her hand.

“Alex, Schneider’s here,” she yelled over her shoulder in the general direction of his room.

“Be ready in a few minutes,” he yelled back.

“You want some coffee?” Penelope asked.

“Sure,” Schneider answered as he tossed his backpack on the overstuffed chair.  He pushed his glasses up on his nose and followed her into the kitchen.  He took the mug she offered him a minute later, leaning against the counter as he inhaled the familiar scent of Café Bustelo. 

They chatted about a few mundane subjects while waiting for Alex to get ready.

“You already went to a meeting?” she asked.  “Sorry, didn’t mean to be nosy, just making conversation,” she clarified as she put the milk back into the fridge and wiped invisible crumbs off the island before leaning against the sink.

“Pen, you’re not being nosy.  I know that 30 in 30 is something I have to do.  Not just because you’d probably kill me if I didn’t, but because I need to do it.  It’s worked in the past and there’s no reason to believe it won’t work now.  Okay?” he said as he held out his hand to her.  She pushed herself away from the sink and crossed the small room to grab his hand.  He pulled her close and she tucked her head under his chin for a minute, inhaling the fresh scent of the ridiculously expensive body wash he insisted on using.

“Ready,” Alex announced as he tossed his backpack one of the kitchen chairs.  “Did you bring your glove?”

“Of course, I did,” Schneider answered as took a big gulp to finish the coffee.

“Do you have your helmet, Alex,” Penelope called over her shoulder as she quickly washed Schneider’s mug.

  
“Ugh, it’s so dorky.  Other moms don’t make their kids wear them,” Alex whined.

“And those other moms can spend their days taking care of their brain damaged kids,” Penelope shot back with a snort as she sat on the couch, taking out her books.

Alex wisely gave up the fight.  He picked up his backpack and leaned over the back of the couch to kiss Penelope on the cheek.  “Bye Mami.”

“Bye Alex.”

“Bye Pen,” Schneider said as he picked his own backpack, copying Alex’s action and kissing her cheek.

“Bye Pat, you two have fun,” she said with a laugh.  Schneider just shook his head and smiled at her decision to use his given name.

“Hey, can I call you Pat too?” Alex asked as Schneider closed the door behind them.

“Nope,” Schneider replied with a smirk.  Alex just shrugged his shoulders and headed for the stairs.

******

It was a beautiful LA day.  The rain from earlier in the week was long forgotten.  The ride to the park went quickly.  There was a bike path for the second half the trip, making the things a little easier and safer.

Schneider and Alex locked up their bikes and shared a bottle of water while they sat by the lake.

“So how were the meetings this week?” Alex asked as he tossed a few little pebbles into the water.

“Comfortingly familiar,” Schneider muttered after a few seconds of thinking how to answer Alex’s question.

“What step are you on?” Alex asked. 

Schneider was taken back by the question, the steps weren’t something he and Alex had discussed.  “I take it you’ve been doing a little reading this week?” he asked.  He got the expected shrug of Alex’s shoulders.  “Hey buddy, it’s okay,” he assured him as he nudged the boy with his shoulder.  “I guess I’m pretty much done with the first three.  I admitted to being powerless over alcohol and that my life is out of control.  I believe that a higher power can restore order to my life.  I’ve agreed to turn my life over to a higher power.”

“Why do you say higher power and not God?” Alex asked as he pulled a plastic bag of Skittles out of his backpack. 

“Not everyone in AA believes in God like we do.   The step actually says… _God as he is to be understood by the individual_.  It’s more about spirituality, if that makes sense,” Schneider explained as he reached for a handful of Skittles.

“What’s the next step?” Alex asked.

“You don’t know?  I thought maybe you’d memorized them,” Schneider teased as he pulled the bill of his hat down a little to get the sun out of his eyes.

“Nah, no need to memorize them,” Alex teased right back as he pulled his phone out and opened up an app.  “Number 4 is---Do a complete and honest inventory of self.  So how’s that going?”

“Honestly, it’s tough.”

“Do you write it all down?” Alex asked tossed another pebble in the water.

“Yeah, I do.  Basically you write down fears, resentments and most of all, things I’ve done while drunk which have hurt other people.  And before you ask, what I did to you that day in the laundry room is at the top of the list,” Schneider muttered as he pulled a handful of grass out of the ground, letting the blades float away in the breeze.  “Did you really download an AA app?” he asked with a grin.

“Yeah,” Alex whispered.  “Is that okay with you?”

“It’s not up to me, but for the record, it’s more than okay,” Schneider answered with a grin.  “Anyway, Step 4 is a tough one, takes a while to work through.”

“Getting writer’s cramp?” Alex teased.  Schneider just nodded.   They were silent for a few minutes.  Alex seemed to have asked all his pressing questions. “You want to get lunch?”

“Sure, what do you feel like?” Schneider asked as he stood up and picked up his backpack.

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Alex answered as he ran his hand through his hair.

Schneider thought about it for a minute.  There were plenty of options near the park.  But most of the sit down places served alcohol.  He knew he wasn’t ready to eat at a place that served.

“How about the taco truck?” Alex offered as he pointed in the direction of the food trucks.  He quickly realized what Schneider had been thinking about.

“Perfect,” Schneider answered.  “You suddenly have a craving for tacos or something else?” he asked with a pointed look.

“Both,” Alex answered quietly.

“Thanks,” Schneider whispered as he patted the boy’s shoulder.

 

While they ate their lunch it was Schneider’s turn to ask the questions.  He good naturedly teased Alex about Abby, a girl at school who had gotten Alex’s attention as of late.  Alex took the teasing in stride, sharing a few details about Abby.

“You finished? Schneider asked as he pointed to the pile of taco wrappers and empty hot sauce packets in front of Alex.

“For now.  But I’ll probably need ice cream later,” Alex teased. 

“Of course you will,” Schneider teased as he picked up their trash and threw it away. “So what now?  Baseball or pedal boats?”

“Boats,” Alex answered as he got to his feet, wiping his hands on his shorts and adjusting his Dodgers hat.   

Schneider tied his loose shoelace and adjusted his own hat.  He pulled his wallet out of his backpack and the pair headed for the pedal boat shack.  They grabbed lifejackets and Alex put his on without complaint.

“Do you have a Ziploc bag in your backpack?” Schneider asked.

 “Do you think Mami would let me leave home without emergency plastic bags in my backpack?” Alex smirked.

“Nope, that’s why I asked,” Schneider replied as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and held it up.  Alex put both their phones and their wallets in the bag.  Past experience on the pedal boats had led to them ending up rather wet more than one time.

They loaded everything in their boat and were shoved away from the dock by the teenaged girl who looked like she would rather be anywhere but at work on the beautiful day.

Schneider let Alex handle the rudder, steering them wherever he felt like.  They talked about baseball as they could actually see Dodger Stadium from where they were.  Schneider promised they’d catch a game, later in the season when Penelope felt comfortable with him driving the kids around.  Alex eventually pulled his feet off the pedals, propping them up and relaxing in the sun.  Schneider pedaled for a while longer, eventually stopping to stretch out a little in the sun too.  He dozed off at some point, waking up to Alex tossing handfuls of water on him.

“And this is why our phones are in a plastic bag,” Schneider muttered as he found a plastic cup on the floor of the boat, using it to drench his companion.

“Okay, okay you win,” Alex muttered a minute later when he was dripping wet.  There was a fairly large amount of water at the bottom of the boat and they made a half hearted effort to bail it out before heading back.

When the maneuvered the boat back to the dock they were met with a glare from the same young women who’d pushed them away from the dock an hour earlier.

“Sorry,” the both muttered as they pulled off their lifejackets and hung them on the rack. 

They found a spot in the sun and threw the baseball around for a little bit while they dried off.

“Ice cream and then home?” Schneider asked.  It was almost 3:30 and he’d promised he would have Alex home for dinner.

Fueled by double scoop chocolate ice cream cones they headed for home a little after 4:00.

*****

“You coming for dinner?” Alex asked as he tossed his bike helmet on the shelf in the garage.

“Yeah, I think so.  Need a shower first, smell like lake water,” Schneider said as he picked up his backpack.  Alex reached up to pull the garage door down.

“So what should we do next Saturday?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know, we can talk about it during the week,” Schneider offered.

“When do you think Mami will let you drive me somewhere?” Alex asked as they stepped on the elevator.

“My guess is after I get my first chip.  But we’re not going to push that issue, okay,” Schneider said as he put an arm around the boy’s shoulders.

“Okay.  That’s only 21 days away,” Alex pointed out with a grin. 

“Yeah, it is,” Schneider replied with a grin.  The elevator chimed and the door slid open.  Alex gave Schneider a quick hug before heading down the hall.

“Thanks for today.  Don’t be late for dinner,” Alex called over his shoulder as he opened his front door.

“Have I ever been late for dinner?” Schneider called back with a laugh.

The door slid closed and he leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath.  “21 days, you can do this,” he whispered to himself with a little smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos and comments.


	3. Day 15/16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another Saturday with Alex and Schneider. Unfortunately circumstances beyond their control curtail their planned adventures. And it turns out Schneider make a pretty good "babysitter".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably should have mentioned this before. I have absolutely no knowledge of the Echo Park area of LA or actually of LA in general. Flew into LAX once and drove to Thousand Oaks to visit my brother. That's the extent of my personal experience. So all my research comes from my googling. Forgive me for any glaring errors.

Day 15

Penelope let herself in the door to the apartment.  Nobody came to greet her, no kids or mother fighting for her attention. She was exhausted from a long day with Dr. Berkowitz, too many patients with summer colds, asthma issues from the LA smog and some weird virus which seemed to be going around.  It was in her exhausted state that it took her more than 30 seconds to remember where everyone was.  Lydia was away for the weekend with friends, Elena was at a school dance with Syd, but they had planned not to have fun in some sort of protest Penelope had a hard time trying to figure out. 

She was about to call out to Alex when she glanced down and found him curled up on the couch asleep.  He was still dressed in his school uniform.  As she dropped her over-sized bag on the coffee table he woke up and rubbed at his eyes. 

“Hey, everything okay?” she asked as he sat up.  The term she and Dr B had used frequently during the day, “weird virus” sprung to mind as she took a good look at him.  Her medical instincts kicked in and she took a seat next to him.  She put her hands on his cheeks and pressed a kiss to his forehead, finding him rather warm.  “What’s up?” she asked as she smoothed his hair down.  She got the fully expected shrug of his shoulders.  “If you can’t answer, I’ll start poking and prodding,” she teased.

“No thank you,” he muttered with a half-hearted grin.  “Headache and my ear hurts,” he admitted as he curled himself up in the corner of the couch.

“Okay, let’s get your temperature and go from there.  Why don’t you go get changed while I find something to make for dinner.  Are you hungry?”

“A little, I guess.”

“Pasta?” Penelope asked, figuring that would be the quickest thing to make.

“Sure,” Alex muttered as he got to his feet.

“Grab my bag from the linen closet. Thermometer is in the medicine cabinet.  You need help with it?”

Alex just rolled his eyes, “Mami, I’m 14 I can handle the ear thermometer.”

By the time Penelope had filled the pot with water Alex had reappeared, standing in the archway between the living room and the kitchen.  He was dressed in basketball shorts and a Batman t-shirt, holding the ear thermometer and her black medical bag.

“Need some help?” Penelope smirked.  Alex handed over the thermometer and placed the bag on the island.  Penelope turned it on, smacked it against her hand a few times, getting it to work just fine.  “Which ear hurts?” she asked.  He pointed to his left and turned enough so she could stick the thermometer in his right ear.  “100.9.  Go sit down so I can take a look at your ear.”

“Aw, what’s the matter Mami, am I too tall for you to reach,” he teased.

“No comment,” she muttered as she pointed him in the direction of the nearest kitchen chair.  She pulled out the otoscope and took a quick look.  “Well, you’ll be seeing Dr. B in the morning,” she announced as she tapped him on the chin to get him to open his mouth.  “Get yourself something to drink and I’ll get some Advil.”

Alex settled down on the couch with a glass of juice and the remote.  He flipped through his text messages and groaned.

“What?” Penelope called from the kitchen where she was stirring the pasta.

“Schneider and I were supposed to go for a hike or something,” he moaned.

“You can probably still hang out, you just won’t be going anywhere.  Is he texting now?”

“Yeah.”

“See if he wants pasta, the two of us are not going to finish an entire pound of spaghetti.”

“Okay,” Alex replied as he sent a quick text.  “He’ll be here in 15 minutes,” he announced about a minute and a half after sending the text.

 

Dinner was nice with just the three of them.  Alex didn’t eat much but he managed to keep up his end of the conversation.

After dinner they all curled up on the couch and watched a movie.  Or more specifically, Alex and Schneider watched the movie, Penelope half watched and half studied, as was pretty much her life since her NP exam was fast approaching.

By the time the movie ended, Alex was sound asleep in one corner of the couch, huddled under a quilt.  Penelope was asleep in the overstuffed chair. Schneider turned off the television and put their assorted glasses and plates from their snacks in the sink.  He pulled the quilt back up over Alex and brushed the boy’s hair off his forehead, gauging his temperature.  Still warm.  Schneider tried to carefully to pull Penelope’s textbook out of her grip but as he did, she started to wake up.

“What time is it?” Penelope asked as she struggled to open her eyes.

“A little after 11,” he whispered as he set the book on the coffee table.  He held out his hand and pulled her to her feet.  She pressed her hand to Alex’s forehead.

“Yeah, he’s still warm,” he said, unnecessarily.

“Way warm,” she sighed as she motioned for Schneider to follow her into the kitchen. “I’ll wake him and give him some more Advil before I go to bed.  I have to work tomorrow.  I’ll take him with me so Dr. B can check him out.  Can you, uh, if I need you too, can you….” Penelope trailed off with a sigh.

“Pick him up at the office?” Schneider guessed.

“Yeah,  I know I said I didn’t want you to drive the kids and I know it just looks like I’m letting you drive him because it will help me but….”

“Pen, stop talking please,” “Schneider as he put a finger to her lips to stop her from digging herself deeper into a hole.  “I get it, it’s fine.  Of course, I’ll pick him up and keep an eye on him, we can hang at my place.  I can handle a sick 14 year old boy.  Gatorade, Advil and some movies.  I promise he’ll be alive at the end of the day,” Schneider teased lightly as he reached to tuck an errant curl behind her ear before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“You know, that’s becoming a habit,” she teased as she tapped his lips and then her forehead.

“Yeah and it goes both ways too,” he smirked as he tapped her lips and then his forehead.  “You got a problem with it?” he asked, arching a well-groomed eyebrow.

“Nope,” Penelope answered simply.

“What time are you going in tomorrow?”

“9:00.  Does that work for you? Alex can always hang in the break room for a little while if he has to.”

“I’ll go to an 8:30 meeting and then meet the two of you at the office,” Schneider offered.

“Perfect.  So, go home so we can all get some sleep,” she teased as she pushed herself away from the counter.

********

Day 16

Schneider slid into the driver’s seat of his truck at 9:40 the next morning.  He’d been to an early meeting where he shared a little.  He’d actually had a rough week with insomnia and some lingering cravings but hadn’t shared any of it with his “family”.  He knew he should and was encouraged to do so by his fellow AA members.

There was a text from Penelope letting him know Alex was ready whenever he could get to the office.

He shoved the last bite of donut into his mouth and wiped his hand on his jeans to get rid of the last bit of stickiness from the glaze before starting the ignition and backing out of his parking space.

******

It was a few minutes before 10:00 by the time Schneider made his way through the early morning traffic and arrived at Dr. Berkowitz’s office.  He opened the door to find a waiting room full of miserable looking patients.  The receptionist recognized him and waved him in.  Penelope was on the phone and she gave him a big smile and pointed in the direction of Dr. B’s office. He pushed open the door to the office carefully in case Alex was asleep on the couch.  He wasn’t asleep but he was curled up on the leather couch under the standard issue white cotton blanket found at every hospital and medical office.  He had a pamphlet in his hand, one he quickly shoved in his backpack when he saw Schneider.

“You ready buddy?” he asked, ignoring the fact that whatever Alex had been reading was quickly hidden from view.

“Yeah,” Alex said as he slipped his feet back in his sneakers and picked up his backpack.

“Okay, just let me talk to your Mom for a minute, get my babysitting directions,” he teased.  Alex just rolled his eyes as he slung his backpack over one shoulder and followed Schneider out of the room. 

Penelope was just finishing up seeing a patient and she met them by the counter.

“Okay, he has an ear infection, a fever of almost 101 and he’s cranky,” Penelope warned as she smirked at her son.  Sent the scripts to the pharmacy, drops and antibiotics, they should be ready by the time you get there.  Take this,” she said, handing her insurance card to Schneider.  “Probably won’t need it but just in case.  Shouldn’t be a co-pay but take this in case he needs anything,” she added, pulling a few bills out of her wallet.  Schneider just snorted a little and shook his head, refusing to take her money.  “He can have Advil at 2:00.  Call me if he has any weird symptoms, there’s something strange going around.”

“Pen, I got this. We’ll be fine. I’ll text every hour if you want me to, but right now, I think he just wants to get the hell out of here,” he teased as he hitched his thumb in the direction of Alex who was literally standing with one hand on the door handle, ready to bolt.

“Yeah,” she agreed, laughing at herself.  She gave Alex a quick hug and kiss before sending them on their way.

They stopped by the pharmacy to pick up the meds.  They weren’t quite ready so they wandered around, tossing random items in the cart including Gatorade and assorted of snacks to get them through the day.

They stopped at Tierra Mia for coffee and pastries to go and by 11:15 they were parked on Schneider’s couch under a blanket with their drinks and snacks.  Alex had taken the antibiotics and promised he’d do the drops after he finished eating.  Schneider launched Netflix and they settled on Jurassic World as their first movie of the day. 

Alex finished half his muffin, wrapping the rest of it up in the bag before stretching out on the couch while Schneider grabbed the ear drops off the kitchen table.

“You need help with these?” he asked as he sat on the coffee table in front of Alex.  He was trying not to hover, it wasn’t like Alex was a little kid who really did need a babysitter.

“Well, I can’t exactly see what I’m doing so yeah,” Alex said as he rolled onto his right side.  Schneider put the drops in and handed Alex a tissue.  He paused the movie for a minute while he went to get a bottle of Gatorade for Alex and a bottle of water for himself. 

By the time the movie was over, Alex was sound asleep with his feet in Schneider’s lap.  Schneider carefully slid off the couch to walk around and stretch a bit.  He took a quick pic of his sleeping friend and sent to Penelope who called within a minute, asking for an update.  He stepped out onto the balcony to talk to her for a few minutes. Alex appeared at the slider and Schneider handed him the phone so he could talk to his mom.

“Yes Mami, I took my pills.  Schneider did the drops,” Alex said with a sigh.

Schneider went back inside to give Alex some privacy.  He went to the kitchen to find something for lunch.  Alex came inside and tossed the cell phone on the counter.

“She thinks I’m still a little kid,” he muttered as he folded himself into one of the kitchen chairs. 

“Not quite, but she does seem to be having a little trouble letting go,” Schneider muttered with his head in the fridge.  “Grilled cheese?”

“Sure,” Alex replied with no enthusiasm whatsoever.  That got Schneider’s attention as grilled cheese was one of the boy’s favorites.

“You okay?” Schneider asked as he set the cheese and the butter on the counter before turning to get a good look at Alex.  He was a little flushed and in general looked pretty miserable.  Schneider pressed his hand to Alex’s forehead without a second thought.  Not surprisingly he was pretty warm.  “Thermometer is in the bathroom cabinet.  You go check your temperature while I make some sandwiches, okay?”

He got an expected shrug of Alex’s shoulders as the boy shuffled down the hall towards the bathroom.

“100.8,” Alex announced as he came back in the kitchen as sat back down. 

“Advil in half an hour.  If you want chips, I think there’s some in the pantry cabinet.”

Alex got the chips out along with the jar of sweet pickles from the fridge.  He managed to eat about half a sandwich under the watchful eye of his “babysitter.”

After lunch Alex took some Advil and went back on the couch while Schneider cleaned up.  He checked his cell, replied to a few texts and scrolled through his social media feeds.  He opened up his backpack and pulled out the pamphlet he’d grabbed off the display rack in Dr. B’s waiting room.

“Whatcha reading?” Schneider asked as he plopped down on the other end of the couch.

“Nothing,” Alex muttered as he stuck his hand under the throw.  Schneider just gave him a look that said both, “I don’t believe you” and “whatever it is, it’s fine”.  Alex took a deep breath, pulled his hand back out and handed the Alateen pamphlet to Schneider.

“Oh,” Schneider whispered as he took it.  He pushed his glasses up a little and turned to sit crossed legged on the couch, facing Alex.  He said nothing at first, hoping Alex would feel comfortable enough to talk.

“I got it from Dr. B’s office,” Alex explained as he turned, mirroring Schneider’s position.  He stubbornly refused to look Schneider in the eye, instead he focused on twisting the fringe of the throw around his fingers.

Schneider took a deep breath and remembered the promise he’d made to Penelope-----to talk to Alex and be honest with him.  “Is that something you want to do?” he asked, once again getting the fully expected shrug of Alex’s shoulders.  “Hey, you can talk to me, about anything, you know that right?” he said carefully.  Alex nodded and sniffed a little, still looking down at his hands.  Schneider handed him a tissue and tipped up his chin to get him to look him in the eye.  The second Alex’s brown eyes met Schneider’s blue eyes the boy’s tears started.  “Oh bud, come here,” Schneider whispered as he reached out to put an arm around Alex.  Surprisingly, Alex made no effort to escape the hug Schneider pulled him into.  Schneider rubbed the boy’s back and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.  The fact that Alex so easily accepted his comfort brought tears to Schneider’s eyes.  A few minutes later, they both took a few deep breaths and reached for the tissues.

“Well, that was dramatic.  Can we blame it on the meds?” Alex asked with a grin.

“Well, I don’t think antibiotics and ear drops make you dramatic.  Not to mention, the only thing I took today was a vitamin.  But we can keep it to ourselves,” Schneider offered with grin of his own.  “Is it something you want to try?” he repeated the question as he picked up the pamphlet and looked at it.

“I guess.  I saw something about it when I was googling the 12 steps a couple weeks ago.  But I think maybe it’s for family members.”

“Well, it’s not only for family members, and even if it were….” Schneider said, trailing off before finishing his comment.  Alex knew what he meant, there was no need to finish his thought.  Alex nodded and wiped as his eyes.  “There’s a group that’s affiliated with mine.  I can find out when it meets if you want me to.”

“Yeah.  Do you think Mami will let me go?” Alex asked as he pulled the throw up a little.  The slider was still open and a cool breeze was coming through the living room, causing him to shiver a little.

“I think she’ll be just fine with it.  We can talk to her about it later,” Schneider offered as he got up to close the slider.  “Do you have a hoodie with you?”

“No, can I borrow one?” Alex called over his shoulder.

“Sure,” Schneider replied as he headed down the hall.

Schneider tossed him an ancient Maple Leafs hoodie as he headed for the kitchen.  Alex pulled it on over his head.  It was too big for him, but it was warm and he didn’t really care. 

“Anything else you want to talk about?” Schneider asked as he settled himself back down on the couch with a package a Oreos.

“Did you share this morning?” Alex asked.  He didn’t usually ask about the specifics of the meetings.

“I did.  I suppose you’d like to know what I shared.”  Alex just grinned as he gave a little nod.  “Honestly, I’ve struggled a little this week with sleeping and some cravings.  But I didn’t give in to them, don’t worry about that.”

“Good, cause we only have two weeks until we get chips,” Alex grinned.

“That’s right,” Schneider said quietly.  “Any more questions before we pick another movie?”

“Nope, I think I’m good,” Alex announced as he reached for the remote and another couple Oreos.

They decided on Justice League. Neither of them made it more than 20 minutes into the movie before falling asleep.

*****

Penelope opened Schneider’s front door quietly a few minutes after 4:00.  She hadn’t heard from either of them in a couple hours so she was pretty sure she would find both of them sound asleep.

And she was correct.  She stepped into his living room and had to bite back the “aww” that threatened to escape from her lips.  Both we completely asleep. Schneider was at one end of the couch, bare feet on the coffee table, head propped up in his right hand, glasses sliding down his nose.  Alex was curled up, head on the pillow in Schneider’s lap.  He had the hood of the sweatshirt he was wearing pulled up, practically covering his eyes.  She recognized the hoodie as one of Schneider’s and for some reason that just tugged at her heart a little.  The screen saver on the television let her know they’d fallen asleep watching something which was long overf.  She took a quick picture of them to use for blackmail later before turning off the television and straightening the throw over her sleeping son.  She kissed his forehead, checking his fever, which was thankfully down a bit.  On a whim and out of her recent habit, she pressed a kiss to Schneider’s forehead as well.  Neither so much as moved.  She knew Schneider was having trouble sleeping as evidenced by his wee hours of the morning postings on social media the past few days.  He hadn’t said anything to her and she hadn’t called him out on it.

She kicked off her shoes and padded into the kitchen to find something to eat and drink. She ate a container of yogurt and made a pot of coffee.

Schneider woke to the smell of coffee and for a few seconds he was slightly confused until he heard Penelope singing softly in the kitchen.

“Hey,” he muttered as he stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing at his eyes.  He sat down with a sigh.  “When did you get here?”

“About 20 minutes ago.  You guys were completely passed out,” she replied as she poured him a cup of coffee.  She handed it to him and then made a half hearted effort to smooth his out of control hair down a bit.  She wasn’t really successful but she appreciated the attention.  “How’s Alex?”

“He’s okay.  Probably in more pain than he’d admit to me.  Took his pills and let me put the drops in.  Took Advil about 2:00. Been asleep from almost 2 hours.  Neither of us got very far into the movie. Guess we both needed the sleep.”

“I would imagine both of you did need sleep,” she said, giving Schneider a knowing look.  He just smiled and gave a little nod. 

They drank their coffee and talked about nothing in particular.

Alex padded into the kitchen a little before 5:00 looking miserable.

“Oh Papito, have a seat,” Penelope said as she got up and motioned for him to sit down.  He sat down and shoved his hands in the pocket of the hoodie.  Penelope pushed the hood off his head and brushed back his hair.  Schneider grabbed the thermometer out of the bathroom.  “Still up,” she announced a minute later when the thermometer beeped.  She glanced at the clock on the stove and realized it was still too early for more Advil.  “Do you have Tylenol?”

“Probably, let me look.”

Schneider got the Tylenol and when he returned to the kitchen he realized he was stepping into the middle of a conversation about Alateen.  He attempted to just hand the Tylenol bottle to Penelope and step back out of the room but the grip she had on his hand prevented him from going very far. 

“What do you think?” she asked as she released his hand when it became clear he was not about to leave the room.

“Well, it’s ultimately your decision, as his mother.  Do I think it might be helpful, sure.  Let’s not forget this is not just about me,” Schneider said with a little wink in Alex’s direction.

“Yeah, it’s about Papi too,” Alex whispered.  For as much as there were conversations aplenty around the dinner table about Schneider’s struggles, they didn’t speak nearly as much about Victor’s.

“I know.  If it’s something you want to try, go for it,” Penelope said as she wiped away a few tears.

“Thanks, Mami,” Alex said as he stood up and gave her a quick hug.

“You two want to stay for dinner?” Schneider asked as he opened the fridge.  Penelope looked over his shoulder to check out the contents of the fridge. 

“Uh, selection’s not looking so good, Pat,” Penelope teased as she stood up and patted him on the shoulder.

“Okay, you two want to stay for takeout pizza?” he asked, rephrasing his offer.

“Did someone say pizza?” Elena called from the living room.  “What happened to you?” she asked as she got a good look at her brother.

“Elena, leave your brother alone,” Penelope said from the doorway to kitchen.  “Ear infection, he hung out with Schneider today,” she explained.

“Played babysitter today?” Elena teased Schneider as she passed by him on the way to the fridge for a drink.

“We hung out,” Schneider clarified and Elena stopped her teasing.

After a bit of discussion they decided on what pizza to order.  Schneider and Elena went to pick it up, after Penelope assured Schneider it was fine for her to go with him.

Penelope ran back to their apartment to change her clothes and grab her medical bag so she could take a quick look at Alex.

 

“Mami, is this really necessary?” Alex whined as she pulled out her stethoscope after taking a quick look at his ears.

“Stop talking and take a few deep breaths.”  Alex wisely did as he was told, figuring the sooner he cooperated, the sooner the exam would be over.

******

By 8:00 the pizza was long gone and the four of them were watching a movie.  Elena and Alex were on the couch, under the throw.  Penelope was sprawled out sideways in the overstuffed chair, her legs hanging over the arm of the chair.  Schneider was sitting on the floor in front of her, leaning back against chair.  Penelope absently ran her fingers through his hair. 

When the move ended, Schneider was the only one still awake.  He got to his feet and turned off the television.  The kids were asleep on the couch, Alex’s head in Elena’s lap, her feet on the coffee table.  He covered them both up and kissed their foreheads.

He woke Penelope up enough to get her to stumble in to the guest room.  He tucked her in with a kiss to the forehead, just like the kids.  He cleaned up the kitchen and locked up. One last check of the kids and he went to brush his teeth and change into his pajamas.  He sat on the edge of the bed and recited the Serenity Prayer, just as he’d done for the past 16 nights.

 


	4. Day 22/23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite the rain, Schneider and Alex manage to have a fun Saturday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, after a break much longer than I had expected I am back with another chapter. Hope you enjoy.

 

Day 22

When Penelope let herself in the apartment after a long day, she found Alex standing in front of the television which was turned to The Weather Channel.  He was stomping around the room a little, muttering a few choice words she didn’t normally let him get away with using but since he seemed upset, she let it slide.

“What’s up Alex,” she asked as she closed the door behind her and tossed her work bag on the overstuffed chair.

“Supposed to rain tomorrow,” he groaned as he clicked the television off.

“And?” Penelope said, not quite getting why he was so concerned about the weather. 

“Schneider and I were supposed to go hiking tomorrow at Elysian Park.  Couldn’t go last week cause I was sick.  And now it’s supposed to rain.”

“You can do something else,” Penelope said as she headed for the kitchen and a drink of water.

“Like what, ride our bikes in the rain?” Alex muttered as he kicked off his shoes and pulled the shirt tails of his school polo out of his khaki pants.

“Ah,” Penelope muttered as the lightbulb went off.  “Look, Schneider’s been doing well.  He’s been going to his meetings, sharing and doing everything he needs to do.  If you two want to go somewhere tomorrow that involves driving that’s fine.”

“Really?” Alex asked.  Penelope nodded and widened her stance a little as her son launched himself at her and gave her a big hug.  “Can I run up to see him?”

“Of course, come back for dinner in an hour.”

Alex gave her another quick hug and left the apartment.

***********

Alex knocked once and called Schneider’s name as he opened the front door to his apartment.

“Kitchen,” Schneider yelled back from where he was standing at the sink washing the dishes from his early dinner.  “Hey, what’s up?” he asked as he looked over his shoulder at his visitor.

“Well, it’s supposed to rain tomorrow, so no hiking, but Mommy said you’re doing what you need to do so we can drive somewhere.  We can do anything.  So what should we do?” Alex spit out in one breath.

“Woah, slow down buddy,” Schneider said as he dried his hands on a towel and reached for the can of Coke on the counter.  “Well, I’m going to a meeting tonight so I don’t need to go to one tomorrow morning.  I can go later in the day.  So what should we do?” Schneider echoed Alex’s question as the pair headed back into the living room.

“What happened in here?” Alex asked, taking a look at the 3 cardboard boxes in the middle of the floor.  He hadn’t noticed them when he first arrived, he was too focused on finding Schneider.

“Going through my books, trying to organize things a little,” Schneider explained.

“Is that one of the 12 Steps?” Alex teased.  Schneider just rolled his eyes.  “So what are you doing with all of these.”

“Probably drop them off at Stories sometime this week.  Haven’t been there in a while.”

“We can do that tomorrow.  Although if we hang out there long enough, you’ll probably just buy more books.”  Alex said as he poked through one of the boxes.

“Probably,” Schneider snorted as he dropped two more books in the box.

Alex helped him sort through another two shelves, taking a couple books for himself.

“Okay, I have to get ready for my meeting and I’m sure you mom’s expecting you for dinner,” Schneider said about 20 minutes later.

“She is.  What time tomorrow?”

“About 10:30?” Schneider suggested.  It was his first Saturday without an early morning meeting so he hoped he would be able to sleep in.”

“Great, I’ll come up.  See ya,” Alex said with a quick fist bump.

********

Day 23

Alex was up by 8:00 the next morning, much to the amusement of his mother and grandmother.  He made himself some hot chocolate and grabbed one of the muffins Elena and Syd had made the night before.  Penelope suggested he get a head start on his homework since he was up so early.  That suggestion was met with a snort as he curled up on the couch with the remote.

By 10:20 Alex and Schneider had taken the boxes down the elevator and put them in the back of his truck.  Luckily the rain held out until they were finished moving the boxes.

They chatted comfortably on the ride to Stories.  Schneider told about his meeting the night before and Alex shared about his “boring” week at school.

The ran had lessened considerably and they were able to unload the boxes without getting drenched in the process.   Schneider parked the car in the little lot behind the store while Alex waited by the door for him.

Alex started to browse a bit while Schneider talked to the guy behind the counter for a few minutes.  The book buyer wasn’t available to go through the boxes.  Since he wasn’t really looking to get money for the books, Schneider just signed donation form and set off to find his young companion.  He found Alex, predictably in the Sports section, more specifically, the baseball section.  He had two books in his hand, “Luckiest Man” about Lou Gehrig and Tug McGraw’s autobiography, “Ya Gotta Believe”. 

“Good choices,” Schneider said as he pointed towards the books.  “I’m heading over there,” he said as he cocked his head in the general direction of the self help and history sections.  Alex finished up in the sports section, answered a few texts on his phone and wandered to find Schneider.

“Hey buddy,” Schneider said over his shoulder as he saw Alex coming towards him.  He shoved the book on the Civil War back on the shelf.

“Find anything good?” Alex asked as he pointed towards the small stack of books sitting by Schneider’s left foot.

“Few things, trying not to replace all the books we dropped off,” Schneider teased as he pushed his glasses back up on his nose and leaned over to pick up his books.

“Good idea,” Alex agreed with a grin. 

They found a couple of oversized leather chairs in the corner and settled down with their finds.  Schneider set his books on the small round table between their chairs.  Alex did the same with his and pulled out his phone to glance at it.

“You hungry?” Schneider asked.  Alex just gave him a pointed look.  “Yeah, right, you’re a 14 year old boy, of course you’re hungry,” Schneider sighed.  “What do you want?” he asked, pointing the general direction of the café.

“The Jammin’ Grilled Cheese and iced tea,” Alex answered quickly, they’d been there quite a few times and he had his favorite sandwich. 

While Schneider headed to order their food, Alex took a quick look at his books and then the books Schneider had set on the table.  He’d picked up three, considerably fewer than the 3 boxes he’d donated.  He’d grabbed the Alexander Hamilton biography by Ron Chernow, A Common Struggle by Patrick J. Kennedy and Guardian of the Golden Gate.  Quickly flipping over the Kennedy book he realized it was about Patrick Kennedy’s own struggles with mental illness and addiction.  The one about the Golden Gate Bridge was about a law enforcement office who spent his days talking people out of jumping from the bridge in a suicide attempt.  The Chernow book was self explanatory and Alex knew it was the book Lin-Manuel Miranda based his hit Broadway show on.  A show he was still hoping to see one day.

“Didn’t exactly pick up any light reading,” Schneider remarked as he motioned to Alex to clear off the table so he could set down their food.

“Not exactly, the Hamilton one should keep you busy for a while,” Alex teased as he reached for his iced tea.  “Avocado toast?” he teased as he took a look at what Schneider had ordered for himself.  “Aren’t you a little old for the favorite food of millennials?”

“Shut up,” Schneider teased as he handed Alex his sandwich and a napkin.  “And you have no room to talk, your grilled cheese has raspberry jam on it.”  Alex just chuckled at his comment.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the food and doing a little people watching.

“So what did you think of the meeting?” Schneider asked, knowing Penelope had taken Alex to the Alateen meeting on Thursday night.

“It was fine,” Alex answered quickly as he reached for the second half of his sandwich.  Schneider gave him a look that let him know “fine” was not going to be an acceptable answer.  “It was interesting.  There were 8 of us there.  I was one of the youngest.  Most of the kids have parents who are alcoholics, one had an older brother with problems.  I was the only one with two people,” Alex said with a shrug of his shoulders. “There was one other kid, Brad who was there for the first time too.  We sat together.  Everyone was nice though, they all made Brad and I feel welcome. It was nice to meet other kids who are going through the same thing as I am.”  He set aside his now empty plate and curled up a bit in the chair.  “We talked about the 12 steps and how people work through them at their own pace.  Everyone had a chance to share at the end.”

“Did you share?” Schneider asked, curiously.

“Yeah, a little.  Not so much about Papi, more about you.  I talked about our deal with the chips.  Everyone thought that was cool.  Only one more week to go.”

“Yep, 7 short days,” Schneider said with a grin of his own.  “Are you going to go back?”

“Yeah, I think so.  Mami thinks maybe it’s good for me.  I think the fact that I actually talked in the meeting made her happy.  But I didn’t do it for her,” Alex added.

“I know, you did it for you,” Schneider whispered as he leaned forward a little to ruffle Alex’s hair.  Alex nodded in agreement as he smoothed his hair back down again.  “Have you talked to your Dad lately?”

“Not really.  He texts once in a while.  I don’t talk about you, if that’s what you wanted to know,” Alex said with his head down, not really wanting to meet Schneider’s gaze.

“I wasn’t asking about that.  And if you wanted to talk about me, that’s fine.  Victor’s your father Alex, you should feel comfortable talking to him about anything,” Schneider pointed out, not believing his own words but feeling they needed to be said.

“I’m not really comfortable around him at all.  I’m more comfortable around you,” Alex admitted as finally picked up his head enough to meet Schneider’s gaze.

“I know.  And I’m glad you are, but I would never want to try and replace Victor,” Schneider said lightly.  He was wading into territory in which he didn’t really feel comfortable.  While he told Penelope he’d be completely honest and open with Alex, he didn’t feel comfortable talking about Victor.

“You’ll never replace him.  But what I have with you…what Mami, Elena and I have with you, it’s different.  We’re not blood, but we’re family.  Always have been,” Alex declared.

“Thank you,” Schneider mouthed, not trusting his voice at that moment.  He pushed his glasses on top of his head and swiped at his eyes.   Alex turned his gaze towar the window and wiped his eyes too.

Schneider took a deep breath and decided to give Alex a few minutes alone.  He cleared away the plates from lunch and went to the counter to get a couple cookies and two cups of coffee, black for him and light and sweet for Alex.

They enjoyed their treat while making small talk about the week.  Schneider shared a little about his meetings and Alex talked about school.  Mostly how he couldn’t wait for the school year to be over. 

The store was getting a bit crowded and people were milling about looking for seats so Schneider picked up their books while Alex picked up their coffee cups.  Their seats were quickly taken by a couple of girls Alex’s age who both gave him big smiles as they sat down.  Schneider started to tease his young companion but he decided against it when he saw Alex blush and look away.

Schneider paid for their books while Alex tossed their empty coffee cups away. 

It was raining steadily when they exited the store. They walked under the awning as long as they could eventually sprinting across the parking lot, laughing the whole time.

Schneider reached behind him to grab the roll of paper towels from behind the driver’s seat.  He used one to wipe his face and another to clear his glasses.  Alex took a few for himself and dried his face too.  Schneider started the car and turned on the defoggers, trying to clear the windshield.

“So big plans for the summer?” Schneider asked, figuring he’d might as well start a conversation, it was raining way too hard to even think about pulling out of the parking lot.

“No really.  Baseball, of course.  Mami wants me to do something “educational”.  Not sure exactly what that means but I’m sure I won’t like it.  Next summer it’ll be better, I’ll be old enough to work.”

“What about working with me this summer?” Schneider asked.  Truth was he’d already talked to Penelope about having Alex do some work around the building to get a little spending money and keep him away from the video games. 

“Really?” Alex asked. “That would be so cool.”

“I actually already talked to your mom about it this week, when we went out to dinner,” Schneider admitted. “We think it will be good for you.”

“Keep me out of trouble?” Alex said with a grin.

“Something like that.  Although the two of us can probably get ourselves in a large amount of trouble if we tried,” Schneider teased.

“I don’t think we’d have to try all that hard,” Alex teased right back.  “So what do you need me to do?”

“Well, help me with the day to day stuff for sure.  And this summer I want to get the hallway on the first and second floors painted and we’re switching out the light fixtures in the hallway too.  Nothing exciting but you’ll get some spending money and stay out of Lydia’s hair for the summer.”

“Sounds good to me,” Alex said as he reached for the pack of Tic Tacs in the center console of the truck. 

“Okay, looks like it’s slowing down a bit.  Let’s see if we can get home before it starts up again,” Schneider said as he eased the truck into gear and backed out of the parking space.

They stopped by the food store, picking up a few odds and ends Schneider was running low on.  They also picked up supplies to make homemade pizza and brownies for dinner.

Schneider dropped the groceries and Alex at home before heading for an early evening meeting.  Alex went home for a little while, excitedly telling his mother and grandmother about his new summer job.   The three chatted for a while before Lydia and Penelope got ready to go out to dinner with friends of Lydia’s.  Alex grabbed his backpack with his homework and went up to Schneider’s apartment to wait for him.  He grabbed a can of Coke from the fridge and settled down at the kitchen table with his books.

Schneider got home about 6:30, once again soaked from the rain.  Alex just laughed as he stood dripped on the rug just inside the front door.

“When you stop laughing how about you grab me a towel,” Schneider smirked as he pulled off his glasses and wiped a hand over his face.

“Sure,” Alex replied as he headed for the bathroom to grab the requested towel.

Schneider dried off enough to cross the apartment to grab some dry clothes out of his room.  Alex got out the pizza ingredients and set everything out on the counter.  He put some music on and turned the oven on to preheat.

*****

“God, I ate too much,” Alex muttered as he pushed away his plate with half a slice of pizza left on it.

“Oh, then I guess I get the entire pan of brownies to myself,” Schneider teased.

“Not a chance, I’ll be ready for dessert in a little while,” Alex smirked.  He got up to clear away their plates and put the last two slices of pizza in the fridge. They played a few around of Mario Kart, with Schneider emerging victorious this time around. They headed back to the kitchen for more drinks.

“So what happens after 30 days?” Alex asked as he grabbed 2 sodas out of the fridge, handing one to Schneider before he hopped up to sit on the counter.

“You mean after the 30 in 30?”  Alex just nodded as he fiddled with the tab on the can of soda.  “Well, I certainly won’t stop going to meetings.  I might not go everyday but I’m sure I’ll go more often than not.  It’s just what I have to do right now. I’ll keep working through the steps.  One day at a time, that’s all I can do.”

“Have you been around liquor at all?” Alex asked.

“Not much.  Was today though, apparently, Stories recently began serving beer and wine.  But I’m sure you saw that,” Schneider said.

“Yeah, I did.  Was going to say something but I figured if you needed to leave, you would have said something,” Alex replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

“I would have.  It’s not like I can avoid all liquor, all the time.  Avoiding bars and liquor stores are easy but liquor is everywhere you look.”

“Yeah, even at church,” Alex snorted.

“Yeah, even church.  Speaking of which, what time are you going to Mass tomorrow?”

“Mami said 11, so I can stay for a while.  At least until after dessert,” Alex explained as he leaned over and tested the pan of brownies to see if they’d cooled enough to cut.  They weren’t exactly cool but they were both done waiting.  Alex cut the brownies while Schneider scooped ice cream.  Alex put a picture of his bowl on Instagram and 5 minutes later Elena was at the door, looking for dessert. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All books mentioned in the story are ones I've read this year. I highly recommend all of them.


End file.
